Rachael's Harry Potter Reading Notes: Chamber

My notes for Stone as well as a general introduction to the format I'm using were posted here in case you missed it. Now for Round 2:

Chapter 2: The Burrow

13 - Why are house-elves called HOUSE-elves? Is it somehow necessary to distinguish them from other types of elves? What other elves?

27 - Since the Dursleys hate Harry so much, why are they determined to keep him there? Do they really think they can squash the magic from him?

Chapter 5: The Whomping Willow

69 - When did the Dursleys ever give Harry pocket money? Obviously, six years ago, but I can't imagine it having ever happened. Why did they give him money?

Chapter 6: Gilderoy Lockhart

94 - Everything Lockhart writes is supposedly true, it just happened to someone else. What about what he says? Was he really cornered by a werewolf in a telephone booth? Is this the same incident as the Wagga Wagga Werewolf (C: 161-162)?

95 - Ron's broken wand produces an odor of rotten eggs. Is there any connection between all these egg/cabbage smells or are those just the first things that come to J. K. Rowling's mind when she thinks about bad smells (S: 81n)?

96 - Colin's father is a milkman and he wants to send pictures to him but what about Colin's mom? Is it normal for two magic children to spontaneously appear in a Muggle family (see Dennis G)? Is it possible Colin's mother was a witch but died or otherwise left the picture without her husband or sons knowing of her magical abilities?

99 - Where do Lockharts's titles come from? What do they indicate or mean?

102 - Where did the pixies go that escaped through the window?

Chapter 9: The Writing on the Wall

154 - Where did the scorch marks come from? There was nothing connected with opening the chamber and painting the words that should have produced it. Did it have something to do with Mrs. Norris seeing the reflection in water at that spot, similar to Colin's film burning? That seems like a decent connection, but still not an explanation for either.

158 - Prefect Percy takes points, so what is with all the nonsense in OotP that prefects can't take points and only members of Umbridge's squad can take points?

Chapter 10: The Rogue Bludger

162 - What exactly is the Homorphus Charm? There is no cure for lycanthropy, but this seems to turn a werewolf back into a man. Is this the Wagga Wagga Werewolf incident or something else? (C: 94n)

176 - Harry returned to school on September 1. Dobby ironed his hands after sealing the gate to keep Harry from Hogwarts. Presumably, that means he ironed his hands on or shortly after September 1. They still haven't healed by mid November? Isn't that a bit odd?

Chapter 11: The Dueling Club

185 - Why did Draco stay at Hogwarts for Christmas this year? It is an odd thing for him to do and we never get a valid explanation.

Chapter 12: The Polyjuice Potion

207 - Why is faithful italicized in Dumbledore's list of the characteristics of a phoenix? Obviously he emphasized this point to Harry, but why?

Chapter 13: The Very Secret Diary

234 - What does one have to do to get a "Medal for Magical Merit?"

240-247 - Is the diary's ability to present the events of the "capture" of Hagrid a power created by Riddle's preservation of his memory or is it a power of a horcrux (C: 312 and H)? How is the diary different (or not) from other horcruxes? When did Riddle make the diary into a horcrux? What powers and abilities did it have when it just held the memories of the Chamber, before becoming a horcrux?

Chapter 14: Cornelius Fudge

262 - Who are the other eleven governors?

263-264 - Dumbledore says he "will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." What do these words mean now that Dumbledore is dead? What do they mean if the trio does not return to school (C: 314-316n, C: 332, and H)?

Chapter 17: The Heir of Slytherin

314-316 - Harry's loyalty to Dumbledore called Fawkes, with the Sorting Hat, to Harry's aide. What will his loyalty post-Dumbledore's death mean (C: 263-264n, C: 332 and H)?

319-320 - How did the sword get into the Sorting Hat (333-334n)?

323 - Ginny wanted to go to Hogwarts ever since Bill went. Was she even a year old when Bill started at Hogwarts? Pretty weird infant if she really did want to go to school then.

325 - Why are Fawkes' tail feathers strangely hot? Is it just a power of phoenixes to be hot what with the whole death and rebirth from fire thing? Does it have something to do with exerting magical effort to carry the heavy load?

Chapter 18: Dobby's Reward

332-333 - My book says "lord Voldemort – who is the last remaining ancestor of Salazar Slytherin." One would think Voldemort, born in the 1900s could not be the ancestor of a man born over a thousand years ago. Supposedly, this was changed to descendant in later editions. I've also heard vague fan rumors that the editors changed it to descendant and Rowling told them to change it back, which is just crazy. What is really going on here? Just a simple mistake and it should be descendant or is this something really weird?

333-334 - How was Harry able to get Godric Gryffindor's sword out of the Sorting Hat (C: 319-320n)?

334 - Did Dumbledore place an ad for a DADA prof? Did Remus reply to the ad and it was just coincidence that Sirius then escaped (unlikely)? Did Remus reply to the ad only after Sirius escaped? Did Dumbledore specifically seek out Remus after Sirius broke out?